You Save My Life I'll Save Yours
by CookieDoughPony
Summary: Gwen saved Arthur's life and Arthur saved Gwen's. Now they must unite to save not only their futures but the whole of Albion's as a fierce war breaks out between evil and good with a little help from Merlin and his magical friends
1. Chapter 1

Gwen didn't understand why people disliked her so much. She didn't mean to be born with such a regal, fancy name, come to think of it, why did she even have one when her looks didn't compliment the title she bore? She didn't mean to be the Blacksmiths daughter, a man of little wealth but huge attraction, even reaching the Camelotian ears, bringing a little more money into her family than other people around her. She didn't mean to look the way she did, graced with the beautiful looks of that of an angel. She didn't understand why people hated her so much, and she wouldn't until later on that day once the village children had picked on her again, with her father blissfully unaware of the bullying his daughter was undergoing.

She stood near the edge of the fast flowing river that ran through the small town of Camberton, just south of the border between Wales and England, and four hundred miles directly North of Camelot, the capital of the British Isles. True, Scotland, and Wales both had capitals, but when it came to a whole community, they had agreed on the white, majestic city as their head. Camelot was run, and lived in by the King, Uther Pendragon, with his fifteen year old son, Arthur Pendragon rising up beneath him, soon to be made Crown Prince, first in line for the throne once Uther was gone.

Her whole body was shaking as she stole a glance at the raging torrent of white and grey swirling water rushing downstream toward the main river which would eventually lead into the Irish Sea. It was a formidable river, so bad that if one fell into it, you would probably never be seen again thanks to the sharp, jagged rocks that lay on the bed of the river, visible to the human eye when the water receded in a drought, which was rare. Never, had a thing like this been pushed at Gwen before, nothing so violent, cruel and unjust been placed atop her shoulders, and this, she guessed was just the start. She looked up at the crowd of village children whose eyes were all glinting malevolently and evilly at the girl who was trembling upon the ledge that separated her and the river, her small body flooded with petrified and scared emotions that showed up in her eyes.

"Why?" Gwen asked, her usually strong and confident voice surprisingly weak and scared, coming out in a whimper that seemed to delight her tormentors. The head of the pack that occasionally bullied Gwen, stepped out in front of them to sneer at her. His name was Eaven, and was the son of the mayor, and admired from all corners of the country for his gallant actions, brave and fastidious soul and good looks. If only they could see him at the moment, picking fun on a girl who was defenseless and vulnerable to anything at the moment.

"Why do you think?" he asked scathingly and Gwen wondered in the time she had. Personally, she had never uttered a single word in front of these children about why they were bullying her, preferring to keep the bottling emotions inside of her, the pain and hurt they laboured aboard her stuck away inside for her to worry and fret about later on. Gwen swallowed hard and shook her head, tears glistening tears in her brown eyes as she gazed at them. Eaven snorted

"Ever since you're father started up that firm of his, what was it? A Blacksmiths for the Royals, you seem to grade yourself above us, treating us like scum and buying stuff that we could only dream of affording. It's downright mean" he whispered venomously, heads bobbing up and down in agreement, although some were a little hesitant, worry shimmering in eyes that Gwen looked at in her panic attacks.

"But…but" Gwen whispered quietly, her eyes fixated on the dark grey of Eaven's "I don't treat you like scum…I wouldn't dream of doing that" she told them, her voice trembling at the person in question took a step forward, forcing her further back on the ledge, and closer to the rushing torment of the river. Eaven sneered at Gwen, his usually handsome face screwed up in disgust.

"Right, we all believe that, _Guinevere_" he said loathingly, glaring at the girl in front of him, changing her beautiful name into something a bit like pig manure. He looked Gwen up and down "If you did care about us, then why do you strut about wearing clothing like that, why do you cold shoulder us, why do you never speak to us?" he demanded, his voice rising dangerously, making the group behind him back off, leaving Gwen and Eaven standing face to face, one about to fall to a river of which she might never return out of. Gwen's temper rose into her throat and her eyes flashed dangerously at the words Eaven was saying to her.

"I would never cold shoulder anyone unless they gave me a reason too. I would never _strut_ about showing off my clothes. The clothes I wear were all made for me specifically from my mother because we were too poor to afford any custom made clothes" she spat acidly at Eaven who's eyes widened at her retort before he smirked

"I don't like your tone of voice Guinevere" he said tauntingly, taking another step forward to Gwen, consequently making her pace back.

"And since when did you become my mother? You stuck up, foul, loathsome pig headed git!" she shouted, her face a bright red and her temper lashing out violently at the boy who was fuming as the young girl who he had had the pleasure of bullying over the past three years bit back at him, taking control over her feelings and shouting defiantly at him, showing him up in front of his friends. He didn't like it. Not one bit and he was going to make sure she paid big time for the actions she had just done.

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><p>"Why you-" he started venomously, moving towards her, his hands outstretched in a positioning ready to push her off the edge. Gwen's eyes widened and she breathed in ready for the plunge before he stopped his own pupils wide in terror and fear.<p>

"Leave her, alone" said a voice, proud, clear, educated and firm, ringing in Gwen's ears as she stood there, her heart beating inside of her in terror as her heels slid over the tip of the ledge. There was a gasp of astonishment from the crowd behind him, and as Gwen looked around she saw with a start that someone had a shining silver sword point pressed up against Eaven's neck, the tip embedded in the skin at the back of his neck. As her eyes looked down the blade of the sword, she recognized it at one unfamiliar to her own eyes, but still as beautiful as the ones her father created. As her gaze travelled up to the hilt, there was a distinctive dip that travelled slightly downwards and a shimmering silver hilt that a hand was clasped around. Raising her eyes, she looked at the man's face in gratitude and held her breath suddenly. The man in person was unlike anyone she had seen in the small town she lived it, the features he possessed were certainly not that of a farmer or blacksmith. As she stared at him, seeing the other girls follow her lead at the same time, she drank in every feature that he had upon him. Eaven was furious that he had someone pressing a sword into the back of his neck and tried to move around, only succeeding in getting a trickle of blood dripping down his neck where the razor sharp blade cut through his skin.

"Who do you think you are cavorting around with a sword?" he spat, looking at Gwen head-on as if in a staring contest despite the fact it wasn't her doing

"You do not have any right to threaten this young lady at any interval in her life" the man said quietly, administering a firmer grip on the hilt of the beautifully crafted sword. Eaven sneered at the young man before stepping forward and Gwen automatically stepped back. Onto nothing. A petrified scream echoed through the air as she disappeared down from the ledge and everyone looked shocked at what Eaven had just done to Gwen which was followed by a tremendous splash and silence. The man who had pressed the sword against Eaven's neck ran to the ledge and could distinctly see the place where the girl had fallen; due to the fact there was a ring of foaming water that happened whenever something pretty heavy impacted the half solid water. He drew in his breath as his eyes grew wider and wider by the second. She couldn't survive in there. It wasn't possible, not even for something as light as her, judging by the frame, she would be pulled under by the ferocious current that flowed downstream. Pulling off the sword belt and resheathing the sword, knowing it wouldn't be good in the water, he threw them at Eaven who clumsily caught them

"If you have any decency in your body, you will not loose these, otherwise I will cause trouble for you" he said coolly before turning back to the water, taking a deep breath and jumping off the ledge into the swirling mass below.

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><p>The water was freezing cold as it struck his body when he came into contact with it. Almost immediately, he opened his eyes underneath the water, finding the water quite clear and easy to see through. He looked down around him and saw the deadly, sharp rocks that protruded from the sandy bottom, the tips vicious and pointed, cursing anyone who should encounter them on this treacherous stretch of water. Pushing himself forward, his eyes stinging with the force of the water, he searched wildly for the girl that had fallen in here about three minutes ago. The current was dreadful underneath the surface, and he found himself being dragged along against his own will, his eyes desperately searching for any signs of the girl. There was nothing but water, rocks and dark sand that littered the bottom of the river, no signs of life due to the fact the force was too strong for anything to cling onto the rocks and for any fish to spawn, the coarse, loose sand impossible for anything to bury into. Of course, there was also the problem of even getting up here, so yes.<p>

He was getting panicky now, adding to the fact he couldn't breath either, his lungs were gasping for air and there was a tight band encircling his waist as his vision dulled slightly from lack of oxygen. Looking around frantically in the icy cold water, he looked around again wildly before he saw her. She looked like she was drowning as her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving as the current was dragging her along, her body lifeless and slightly blue. She was unconscious, he thought, because her head was bleeding profusely and there were scarlet tinges here and there as he attempted to reach her before he too fell away. His chest was aching endlessly now and his lungs felt like they were about to collapse, but still he swam on, trying to reach the girl before he blacked out.

Wrapping his arm around her waist, he looked upward towards the glittering, promising surface. There wasn't much distance to go before he could breathe properly again and he fought the current determinedly, dragging the unconscious girl up with him until he broke the surface, gulping in a refreshing breath of air that sliced through his throat like a knife. Pulling the girl's head up, he pushed his way through the raging rapids towards the grassy embankment where he could make sure the girl was actually breathing before he took her back to the village. Pushing himself out of the freezing water and upward, he reached down and picked the girl up as if she was a feather and laid her on the ground, pressing his fingers to her neck frantically to check for a pulse. It was weak, but her breathing was laboured and he guessed she had inhaled a fair amount of water down there. Moving her over to one side, he gently but firmly hit her on the back to try and get the water out of her lungs. She reacted almost instantly and started to cough up excess river water, pushing herself up off the grass and shaking her head to get rid of the tiny water droplets that were running down her face, whilst choking. The man looked at Gwen worriedly

"Are you all right?" He asked, concentrating his eyes on the girl who seemed to be having a coughing fit. It was the first time Gwen seemed to have not noticed the man there let out a startled squeak and pushed herself away from him in shock. She could feel the warm blood running down her face but didn't think much of it as she sat there defensively, shaking slightly at the sight of the person who had rescued her. He raised an eyebrow "I take it your not accustomed to being saved?" he asked and there was a tentative shake of the head in reply. Gwen's heart was beating rapidly as she looked into the serious blue eyes of the person who had saved her. He made a face as she looked at him

"Are you sure your okay?" he asked and Gwen nodded, the warm liquid trickling down her cheek now and he looked at her disbelievingly.

"I don't think you are-you have blood running down your face and you're dripping wet"

"A bit like you" Gwen retorted, blinking at the fact she was talking to a complete stranger who had suddenly arrived out of nowhere and prevented her from drowning.

"… Minus the blood"

"Look again" Gwen said timidly, running her eyes down the man's face. He put his hand up to his face and looked at it before sighing

"Oh dear" he muttered before turning back to Gwen. "Before anything else, how do you feel?" he asked curiously and Gwen narrowed her brown eyes, making the man grin abashedly

"No, don't worry, it's just you had a bad hit to the head and I found you unconscious in the water" he explained and Gwen relaxed before taking thought to her feelings.

"Sleepy, exhausted, weak, downright freezing" she said quietly and the man in front of her widened his eyes, the deep blue making her feel a little vulnerable

"I think you may have mild concussion from the hit…that would explain all of them apart from the latter which would be the temperature" he said quietly before looking up at the positioning of the sun "If you want to be back before dark, I suggest we start walking now" he added on and looked back to the girl. She had a curious expression across her face which he returned before raising his eyebrow

"Yes?"

"What's your name?" she asked

"Arthur"

"Arthur…" Gwen said quietly, tasting the words on her tounge before she spoke again "Isn't that the name of the Prince of Camelot?"

"Indeed it is"

"You must feel lucky"

"Yeah. Really lucky" Arthur said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, realizing that the girl didn't have a clue who he was. Which was peculiar, but there you go.

"Gwen…or Guinevere, although Gwen is perfectly fine" she said to him warningly and Arthur took the hint she didn't like her full name being spoken. He merely nodded and turned to sit down and look upward at the positioning of the sun for a bit until they were both dry. After a while, he spoke up again

"You know, if you want to get back home before sundown, I suggest we get a move on now" he said to Gwen who didn't reply. Turning around, he realized why she had been so quiet throughout the fifteen minutes he had been sitting there. She had fallen into a much needed sleep, of which Arthur didn't really blame her for.

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><p><strong>An Yes yes…I know it's like the fifth book and all but It just popped into my head and I couldn't resist it. They are fifteen in this one but I'm going to do that thing where it skips time suddenly….there is something else on how Arthur manages to get Gwen back to her home, but you'll have to wait and find out about that one :-)**

**Cookies x**


	2. Chapter 2

Eaven was in a state of shock as he watched the blonde haired boy jump of the ledge to save Gwen. He couldn't believe he had actually taken that step. Eaven's mouth was dry and his throat was contracting painfully as he held onto the warm leather of the man's sword belt and sheath, looking into the distance over the ledge before he heard a sniff coming from behind him. Turning around, he fixed his gray eyes on the group behind him, some of which were glaring angrily at him, some were crying and some were in a state of shock. His stomach was churning rather badly as he faced his once allies that had turned against him when he stepped over the line that make the mark between bullying and torment exact.

"What did you do?" a girl with ginger curls and dark green eyes called Jenny, whispered, her voice disbelieving as she glared at Eaven, eyes boring two more uncomfortable holes into his body, her hands trembling. Even though she didn't have the guts to try and stop Eaven when he was tormenting Gwen, she still cared for her as a friend and suddenly felt rather protective of her. Eaven blushed deep red

"I didn't mean-"

"You didn't mean to bully her?" Jenny shouted and Eaven stood up straight

"I'll have you know you were doing it to" he exclaimed curtly, his grey eyes flashing furiously as the small girl squared him up

"I wasn't participating. I was standing on the sidelines wishing I could stand up to you, but I jolly well knew that you would probably pick on me too!" Jenny shouted furiously and pointed to Eaven rudely.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that" Eaven hissed, rising up in front of her, his whole body trembling with anger as someone actually dared to speak to him in such a manner. Looking down at the sword in his hands, he unsheathed it, having handled one before and pointed it at Jenny's neck. The girl's throat constricted as he did this, a cold sweat broke across her forehead and her heart started to press painfully against her ribcage as she forced herself to speak, pupils dilating in terror, making the dark green encircling the black center startlingly wide.

"So I suppose you're a murder now are you" she whispered acidly, her hands curling up into small fists, that were shaking violently whilst Eaven scowled

"You have no right to speak to me like that!" he hissed angrily, pressing the point of the blade into Jenny's neck even further and causing her to gag, the people around them retreating in worry and whimpering slightly, knowing the damage Eaven could cause if he went on a rampage.

"And you have no right to be handling my sword at the neck of a young lady" someone said coolly, their voice hard and full of anger. Turning his head and sight away from the girl at sword point, he realized that the man who had jumped off the cliff to have Guinevere had arrived back to witness what was happening, and he looked absolutely livid.

* * *

><p>Standing where he was, Arthur was fuming. His deep blue eyes were cold, hard and annoyed; his face was set into an expression that warned anyone to come near him. He glared at Eaven with hatred<p>

"So first you push some defenseless girl off a ledge into a river that could've killed her. You disobeyed a direct order and now you threatening to run a sword through this girl's neck? What happened to you when you were a young lad" Arthur whispered, eyes flashing dangerously in the now diminishing light that surrounded them. Eaven sneered

"Who do you think you are? The Prince of Camelot?" he asked jeeringly and Arthur raised an eyebrow and resisted to smirk. The thing Eaven said next through wiped the even thought of one of them off his face

"I challenge you"

"To what"

"To swordfight me" he said proudly whilst raising the sword in his hands "I'm the best swordfighter in Great Britain" he boasted, holding his nose in the air pompously

"I've heard the Prince is quite an accomplished swordfighter" Arthur said simply, looking Eaven up and down. These people really didn't know when they were facing him did they?

"I beat him in a tournament"

"Did you now?" Arthur asked humorously, almost sarcastically. He remembered fighting this boy in a swordfight only five months ago, and suffice to say, Eaven hadn't turned out in a pretty state. The reason, probably why this boy couldn't remember him was probably because they both had helmets on, although Eaven had removed his when he walked out, a tradition for the loosing knight. In fact, Arthur thought, if you studied his face closely, you could still see the scar he had made down the left cheek with his sword when the blade had gone through the thin metal of Eaven's helmet (He suspected it had been a family helmet as nowadays they had to be made at least three centimeters thick or they wouldn't pass to be sold)

"Yes"

"Well would you kindly give me my sword back?"

"What's to say you're getting it back?" Eaven said nastily and Arthur's eyes flashed darkly before someone came up behind him and the girls within the pack inhaled sharply. The men just stared in admiration and curiosity. Arthur twisted around to see a familiar face walking up to him, his walk purposeful and hurried. Dressed in the traditional armour and clothing of Camelot, his blood red cloak billowing around his back, long strides swallowing up the ground and a serious expression upon his face, Sir Leon came striding up to Arthur, his gloved hand on the hilt of the long sword that was hanging down from his waist.

"Ooh your going to get it now" Eaven whispered maliciously and Arthur smirked. Leon, with his slightly ginger hair standing out like Jenny in the dim light, advanced on Arthur and looked down at him. Being one year older that the Prince and second in command to the Knights of Camelot, Sir Leon was kind of like a brother to Arthur. A brother he had never had the chance to have. Jenny's eyes widened as she made the connection between the grinning man in front of her and the Camelot Knight walking up and she looked at Eaven, who was unaware of who these two people were. He was just smirking incessantly, a smug look upon his face.

Leon finally reached Arthur and placed a hand on his shoulder, his face now relieved

"Sire! We were worried where you had got to! Where did you go?" he asked fretfully like a harried mother. Arthur looked grim all of a sudden and glared at Eaven who had dropped his arrogant expression to be replaced with one of worry.

"Yes. I was just saving someone who fell off the ledge into the river"

"You know you really have to stop doing that"

"I know" Arthur said simply before turning back to Eaven again, his eyes icy "If you don't mind, I'll have my stuff back now" he said coolly and Eaven was frozen to the spot. It took a while with Arthur glaring at Eaven before Jenny sighed and picked them out of his loosened grip and handing them to Arthur who smiled gratefully, causing some of the girls to stare in half interest and half shock.

"Thank you…"

"Jenny"

"Thank you Jenny…can you give Guinevere my regards and tell her to recover soon?"

"I sure can"

"Thank you" he said graciously and before anyone could say anything, he turned away and strode off with Leon, filling him in on all that had happened. Jenny just looked at Eaven in disgust and walked off to Guinevere's house.

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><p><strong>An Hm. I didn't know what to do with this one, but there you go… hope you liked it :-) **

**Cookies x**


	3. Chapter 3

It had been six years since Arthur had seen the girl he had saved. He could still remember her face, every detail, every word she said, and he could still remember her name in his head like she had told him yesterday. He didn't mind it, but it would be nice to actually talk to her again rather than be aggravated by all of these memories. He sighed and mounted up on his horse that was soon to take him into the Jousting Tournament to warm him up before he picked up the lance his servant, Merlin was to hand to him. That was, if he didn't drop it like he usually did.

* * *

><p>Dressed in the full jousting armour that a Knight of Camelot was to wear for event such as these, it was restricting his movements a little bit. His horse beneath him seemed rather content with the matter at hand and was resting his near hind hoof, thoroughly relaxed and accustomed to all of the hustle and bustle as Arthur made himself comfortable on the warmblood Hanoverian's back. Merlin, who was making sure the lances were in order, had mysteriously disappeared and Arthur sighed before nudging his horse around in a wide loop, pressing him on into a half lope like a dog and a half canter, extending the stallion's stride and curving his neck, making the most of the time he had with Arion. The Prince was renowned for having a natural bond with any horse he rode, Arion being his favourite, understood Arthur as much as Arthur understood him. Every minute movement Arthur did in the saddle, the horse would respond instantly, curving his neck this way, throwing out his legs in an characteristically beautiful trot, curving his neck inward, despite the fact he was about to gallop down a track in an attempt to de-saddle the opponent. Arthur still liked to make his horses look nice, even when galloping, and he managed to do it with such little effort. He was so transfixed in his work, he didn't see someone rather familiar arrive with a grin on their face.<p>

* * *

><p>"Well this is nothing like Camberton" Gwen whispered, walking onto the great green grounds of the Annual Camelot Jousting Tournament. Her whole life had been made up of smaller tournaments that they could participate in once they were of age, which turned out to be two and ten years of age. Many of the boys had gone in, and come out with bruises and gashes that were pretty ugly to look at, let alone treat. Gwen had never been one for watching the Tournaments and preferred to stay at home with her father, who also didn't really like to watch these tournaments. However, as much as they despised the ones held in Camberton, they had both, along with Elyan, Gwen's brother and Thomas's son had always yearned to go to Camelot and watch the famous one held each year. Thomas had said that one day they might go and see it occur, and it just so happened that today was that day. And also Gwen's birthday. She was now twenty one years old and the thrill of her birthday combined with actually being at Camelot was a little overwhelming. She couldn't contain the grin of satisfaction that covered her face as she walked into the grandstand that rose either side of the sand track that would soon have Knights tilting their opponent, which was managing to push the other rider out of the saddle with a lance at a gallop. She couldn't wait to see the tournament in full swing, with the Jousting at one end, swordfighting at another and many more things that were proving to be hard to take in.<p>

"I second that…this is the eighth Tournament I've been in and it's still hard to soak up" said a bothered voice and Gwen turned around in surprise to see who owned it.

"MERLIN!" Gwen shrieked, launching herself on her friend who left eight years ago before the bullying had started. Merlin laughed, his arm went to hug the girl who had changed so much since he had last saw her whilst a smile that couldn't be contained spread across his face.

"How you doing?" Merlin asked curiously and Gwen's shoulders dropped

"Not very well." She admitted, detaching herself from Merlin's shoulders to look at his other arm that was carrying two swords and a Lance "They haven't stopped bullying me…well. Half of them have. Jenny's been really nice to me and so have half of the gang, but then there's Eaven. Eaven, Eaven, Eaven…makes me fall off a ledge into the river did you know?" she said, voice a little sad and a little depressed. Merlin sympathized as he remembered something Arthur had told her. A light clicked inside his mind

"Hang on…Arthur told me about that"

"What…Prince Arthur?"

"Yeah"

"How do you know him and how did he know about me falling into a river?"

"I'm his manservant" Merlin admitted whilst pulling on Gwen's arm "Come on, I'll explain…seems like your father and Elyan have already gone. I'll get you a good seat too"

"You're his servant? Must me proud" Gwen said, astounded that Merlin got such a high job. He however smirked

"Yeah, amazing. It's a good job when he's not telling me to do so many things at once" Merlin said sarcastically and Gwen grinned

"I take it he's a Prince and a half?"

"Yes, but for a few days he seemed quite irritated"

"Why"

"Because he rescued you, and found out how much of a bully Eaven was"

"What…he didn't rescue me!" Gwen said, confused. The prince hadn't saved her. Someone else had…hadn't they?

"Let me guess. The person who saved you had blonde hair, blue eyes, a sword and a quite a clear, articulate voice?" Merlin asked, looking as if he was pondering the thought, a smile across his face. Gwen nodded blankly "Well. That was our dear Prince Arthur. He was up in Camberton for a day just to get to know his surroundings" Merlin told Gwen who was silent

"He did say his name was Arthur"

"Exactly"

"Oh God"

"What's so bad about that? Most girls would love to be rescued by the Crown Prince of Camelot!"

"It's not that!" Gwen cried out, a worried look on her face and Merlin raised an eyebrow "It's the way I spoke to him! It was rather rude of me!" she said putting her face in her hands as she walked next to her old friend. Merlin grinned

"He didn't seem to mind. He wouldn't stop talking about you"

"He didn't?"

"No, he didn't mind jumping in really…although he did say he would've like to have given Eaven a piece of his mind"

"Jenny did that apparently"

"Good for her"

"Mm" was all Gwen replied with as Merlin had to say goodbye but showed her to a seat near the front of the stands so that she could watch and promised to be back with her later. She waved her goodbye and sat down in a seat to look at the sandy arena that would soon be full of galloping horses.

* * *

><p>"Where have you been!" Arthur demanded, reining in Arion to glare at his servant. Merlin grinned<p>

"Sorry, talking to someone" he admitted, sticking the lance in the holder so that he didn't have to pick it up until it was Arthur's turn to compete. They were awfully heavy pieces of equipment were lances. Arthur looked at Merlin with two bright blue eyes

"You seem to be doing that a lot" he said disapprovingly and Merlin stuck his tongue out

"I'm a servant, not a slave"

"There the same thing"

"Not really" Merlin objected, smartly moving aside so that he didn't get hit by Arion's hooves as Arthur moved his horse around again "A slave has no choice but to follow his master. A servant can wander" he said. Arthur pondered this thought for a moment before shrugging

"I suppose your right" he said and Merlin smirked

"The servant always wins" he said smugly and Arthur looked at him again with a raised eyebrow

"I wouldn't get your hopes-" Arthur began to say before a loud chime from Camelot's bell-tower signaled that the first joust had started. Arthur looked down from his lofty position with a questioning look on his face "How many are there before my joust?"

"Your next…well, after this round. You joust the winning knight"

"Oh yes…"

Merlin shook his head. Even being a Prince was a little bit confusing, he had decided a while ago. People thought being he Prince was an easy job to be lumbered with, but truth be told, it was harder than being a servant. Being expected to live up to your King, being expected to handle matters, to win swordfights and jousts, to organize fights and battles and much more. He was happy he was a servant really. Arthur, if he got through the first joust, was due to go through to another three matches and then if he won all of them, the final. His first joust would soon be up and it was time to get ready.

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><p>Gwen sat in the stands, watching the first joust happen. Neither one of the men had been knocked off, although Sir Edgar, the one on the beautiful grey stallion, had acquired a large gash in his leg, and was refusing to let it be treated. Surveying the scene, she could see that Sir Edgar was not the only one with a wound. His horse was also sporting an ugly cut down his left flank that she had no doubt was caused by the opponents lance that split into two when it connected with Sir Edgar's tough sturdy armour and then slid downward from his weakly protected leg and scraped the unprotected skin of his stallion. There were red spots of blood trailing up the sandy arena and no-one seemed to be paying much attention to the horse. It seemed lifeless and sad as it stood where it was and as Gwen watched it made to walk around, it was raising its head whenever it put the pressure upon his front legs. She knew at once what the matter was. Sir Edgar's horse was lame. And it wouldn't be able to do much more without collapsing, secondly, if it did, it could potentially kill Sir Edgar by falling on top of him and crushing his body. She was torn between her status and the life of the horse, and as she watched, she could see the horse's bloodflow increase, the red flow dribbling down the beautiful steel-grey of his coat, staining the hairs scarlet, not to mention the pain it was going through as it was forced to trot around. She couldn't stand watching it any more and when pretty much no-one was looking, she pushed herself over the barrier that stopped spectators from being run over from crazy horses and started to walk up to the Knight. She knew what she was doing was absolutely crazy and reckless, but when it came to the welfare of people and animals, she was a little bit strong-headed and stubborn.<p>

People were beginning to stop and watch her as she walked up to the well-known Knight, some whispering and some shouting at her to stop. Sir Edgar was astonished when Gwen arrived up to him and raised his visor to take a better look at the girl.

"Young lady! What are you doing!" he demanded, his voice firm, stern but with a little bit of fatherly warmth in it. Gwen grimaced at what she was about to say. She decided to put it in the politest way she could;

"Good Sir, I am afraid to inform you that your horse is lame on his near front hoof and it sporting a blood wound to his right flank" Gwen said seriously, her brown gaze making the Knight gaze back with equal seriousness. His face twisted into an expression that wasn't readable but he turned around to look at his horses flank and exclaimed loudly when he saw the red liquid dribbling out of the substantial sized wound, creating a small pool on the floor. It was obviously bad because the sand hadn't absorbed it enough and there was literally a puddle of the warm blood lying atop of the sand.

"By God, this young maiden is right!" he whispered as well as a Knight with such a powerful voicebox could manage. He dismounted suddenly, landing with surprising grace and then signaled to a groom nearby to start cleaning it up. He looked at Gwen with gratitude written across his face

"I thank you, young lady, for your observance. That may have become infected"

"What about the lameness?" Gwen demanded, although her voice was a little bit softer now. She was hoping that Sir Edgar would not make his horse compete with such an injury and she was determinedly stubborn not to leave until he had pulled out, worrying that if he did, there might be more than one death. The Knight bent down to pick up his horses hoof and shook his head

"Alas, you are right again. Stone bruise…"he muttered before placing it gently back on the floor and beckoning another servant. Gwen folded her arms across her chest.

"I hope your not planning on competing with a horse in this state" she asked grimly and the Knight looked shocked

"My dear girl, I am not one for causing pain with a horse!" he said, a little hurt at the suggestion. Standing there with such humbleness written across his face, Gwen knew he was being truthful and her eyes turned warm before she smiled

"Thank you" she said before curtseying. Sir Edgar stopped her suddenly

"I thank you…" he stopped and raised an eyebrow, signifying that he was asking her name in a politer way

"Gwen"

"I thank you, Gwen. You may well have saved my life, not to mention India's" he said graciously and Gwen curtseyed again as he raised his hand to the King and waved it to show he had withdrawn.

"My pleasure, good Sir." She said quietly and a little proudly before flashing her smile at him and turning just as the second bell went to signify the next to contestants to get ready toward each other.

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><p>She stopped where she was to witness the joust, her heart in her mouth as she saw which mount the Prince was on. She remembered the words a servant behind her muttered before everything went quiet<p>

"Always been jealous of that stallion the Prince owns…Arion. Beautiful paces, once groomed him. Stands like a gelding he does, 'dunt bite, kick, nothing" he whispered to his fellow servant who nodded in agreement. Gwen looked at the so called "Arion" and admitted to herself that it was, indeed a beautiful horse, with elevated paces, long, powerful strides and a beautiful sense of balance. She admired the way the Prince handled the horse even with one hand, being able to manoeuver it this way and that with only a small shift in movement to be able to send him left or right with the slightest touch of his legs or the reins against his neck. Her heart was pressing against her ribcage as the two knights lined up and she had a direct, half front, half side view of the Prince and Arion, being the opposite end helped and she could see the way that Arthur was wrapping his legs firmly around the horse's waist, the way he tensed up and the way he held the lance looked like he meant business.

The steward at the sidelines put his arm down suddenly and then the two horses shot off like bullets, barreling up the sandy tracks, sending it flying in the air behind them, their hooves knocking against each other, their muscles powering them up the stretch of track, sweat forming on their shoulders where the reins were rubbing against them, their eyes were wide and nostrils flared to inhale as much oxygen as they could as they pushed themselves to their limits.

Focusing her attention on the riders now, she could see the way they moved in the saddle to keep their balance, the way their arms were straining underneath the weight of the heavy wooden lances and the way their legs kept nudging into the sides of their horse to spur them on and the way their hands were pushing forward with every stride.

Just as the two horses and riders met, everything happened in a flash for Gwen as she watched. She could see suddenly, the way the Prince dropped his arm slightly, revealing his right flank open to the oncoming lance. There was the sickening crack of wood against metal as it hit him sideways in the chest, breaking through Arthur's chest plate causing the tip of the lance to snap off and disappear, lodged in the Prince's stomach. It also not only overbalanced Arthur, but caused Arion to trip up underneath the pressure applied to his rider from sideways that stayed like a rock in the saddle until Arion eventually fell to his knees to his, sliding on the gritty sand and Arthur was sent, catapulting the other way out of the saddle and crashing heavily into the wooden barrier that separated the two opponents tracks, where he lay absolutely still in a collection of wood, armour and metal.

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><p>After about three seconds, Arthur started to move again, pushing himself up off the floor in pain. Removing his helmet, he could feel the warm trickle of blood running down his cheek and inwardly sighed and as blinked he heard a loud sound ringing in his ears. It sounded like cheering and as his vision cleared, along with his sense of acoustic capability, he realized that everyone was cheering at him, which he didn't understand. He had obviously fallen, but then that didn't deserve rounds of applause did it? He could vaguely see images approaching him and as he looked around, he saw he had obviously crashed into the fence. Sighing, he attempted to push himself up off the floor and felt a sharp pain running through his stomach as he did so before he heard the familiar voice of his servant calling out to him<p>

"Sire!" Arthur looked around vaguely before he realized Merlin was behind him and he turned. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, sounding awfully like Gaius.

"Yes, I'm fine. Pity I fell off though" Arthur replied curtly, gritting his teeth as the pain shot through him with every step. He didn't like people fussing over him so much-it made him feel weak and self conscious.

"Are you sure, you seem in pain"

"Really? I'd never-" Arthur started sarcastically before a spasm completely immobilized his legs and he collapsed to the sandy floor in agony, clutching his stomach tightly. He could feel something sharp digging through his skin and he knew it was spreading something lethal throughout his body as his vision deteriorated, his blue eyes wide and glassy. Merlin was shouting something and he could hear the screaming and shouting from all of the spectators as he lay there, his hands frozen in the position from where he had collapsed, his eyes thankfully closing. Very distantly, he heard the voice that had been haunting him for the past six years, sweet and melodic, with a worried tone to it. A gentle hand cupping his face, wiping away the blood that had increased its flow and two dark brown eyes swimming into focus that were shimmering in the sun.

"It's you…Guinevere" he said quietly so that only she could hear. The last thing he could remember was a smile across her face before everything faded into black.

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><p><strong>An…dum de dum…had to include some Arthur pain in that one. Sorry to all you Arthur-unpain lovers but I love doing that. I also liked it that Gwen suddenly arrived to help. Don't ask me why, I just did…if you don't like it….Meeerhh -_- .**

**Anyhoo, reviews would be pleasant, and I uploaded in a chunk because one chapter is just aganizing to wait for, as I witnessed. Anyway, churrs for reading (: x**

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	4. Chapter 4

"Dragon Venom" the elderly physician confirmed as he extracted the piece of wood from Arthur's stomach, the blood turning a nasty green colour "Although I want to know how the opponent even got Dragon Venom and where it came from. The only one I knew about was the one Uther imprisoned in the Great Purge. And he's long gone!" Gaius murmured to himself whilst Merlin gave him a hasty look.

"Will he recover?" he asked tightly, looking down at Arthur, who was, still lying on the jousting floor bleeding at an alarming rate. Gwen was still holding his head in her hands, the warm liquid dripping down her fingers and onto the sand as she looked about. It was still jam packed with spectators that refused to leave despite the fact the Knights were prodding them with swords and crossbows to leave so that they could see what had happened to the Prince. Gaius sighed deeply.

"I'm not too sure. He had three days at least if we don't find a cure. The problem is that I have no clue what the antidote is to draw out the venom" he said to Merlin who paled. The were interrupted suddenly by the King who came striding up, his cloak trailing behind him, followed quickly by a woman that seemed to spring up from the ground, her raven hair flowing out behind her in gentle waves.

"What happened?" the King demanded, his eyes flashing with fury, worry concern and anger all at the same time. Gaius looked up at Uther with an expression that wasn't readable to Gwen, but it obviously was to Uther

"He's been poisoned with Dragon's Venom extracted from the fangs of a Dragon which I suspect is a Scottish Bluesnout. The venom has been smeared over the end of the lance which was deliberately weakened so that it would penetrate the Prince's armour and injure him. The person Prince Arthur was jousting against was obviously trying to assassinate him" Gaius said solemnly and Uther drew himself up to his full height of six foot three and hailed across the grounds to Knights, eight of which came hurrying up to him in an instant.

"Search the grounds for the man who jousted against my son. Have him brought to me immediately for treason and attempted murder of the Crown Prince" he ordered his voice hard and steely as he spoke. He then looked down at Gaius and the only son he had. Biting his lip he sighed deeply and turned away to the castle to order more men out, shouting orders as he went. The girl however stayed behind and dropped to her knees, making eye contact with Merlin as she looked up

"How long has Arthur got?" she asked shakily and Merlin shook his head sorrowfully

"There isn't a known remedy that can cure him. He may well die within three days" Gaius said softly and the woman wrapped her hand inside Arthur's, still shaking

"Morgana, it'll do no good crying over him! There's nothing we can do unless there's a slim chance he will survive" Gaius added on, seeing how tears were threatening to leak out of the bright green eyes that were set in her pale face, her cheeks tinges with red. She looked up fiercely as Gaius said that, her eyes glittering

"Gaius, he's the only thing I have as a brother! He's the person that I would risk my life for! He's part of my family, the one I look up to! And you expect me to just sit and pretend nothings' happening to him?" she whispered, her voice disbelieving. Gaius smiled gently

"I know how you feel Morgana. My father was in the same incident when he got bitten by the African Ridgeback. He died instantly because the fangs got him right through the heart. How do you think I felt watching my father's life fall away instantly whilst he was in my arms?" Gaius said gently, looking at Morgana who's tears had now flowed out of her eyes and were falling down her face. Gwen saw that Gaius' eyes were a little moist too as he spoke of his father and she felt pity and remorse for him.

"I- I- I'm sorry Gaius" Morgana whispered, looking down at her brother who was slowly loosing colour.

"You weren't to-" he was cut off suddenly as Arthur brought his hands up to his face as if he was in tremendous pain. Gwen widened her eyes but didn't let go for fear he would knock himself out if she dropped his head to the floor.

"Please, please stop them" he whispered, almost pitifully as he kept his hands to his face. Only Gaius seemed to have recovered from the momentary shock that Arthur had just caused them.

"Arthur" he said gently, trying to take away Arthur's hands from his face "Arthur, stop what?"

"The voices. They won't stop talking. They just keep on whispering to each other and it's driving me insane" he muttered, sighing shakily which Gwen knew that he was holding back crying.

"Voices?" Merlin echoed, recovering from his surprise-shock of Arthur's return

"The voices won't stop" he said, bringing his hands away from his face and they all looked at him

"What do they sound like?" Merlin asked Arthur who was holding a hand to his forehead as if testing for a temperature.

"They sound like rocks being ground together and they won't stop. Hundreds all communicating about one thing"

"And what is it about?"

"Someone's planning a war on Camelot"

"A war?" Merlin echoed as they walked out of the jousting grounds lead by a determined and harassed Arthur. He looked at them with cool, bright blue eyes and Gwen felt something jump inside of her. Fighting it down she listened to what he had to say

"A war, yes…Gods no, Shutup!" Arthur cried out, his voice tense and exhausted, of which Gwen didn't blame him for. He had just been pushed off his horse, nearly died and been injected with Dragon Venom, come back alive and suddenly got voices inside of his head that were driving him to insanity. Collapsing to his knees and placing his hands over his head to try and block out the inferno of voices inside of his head, he stayed where he was whilst Merlin rushed up to him followed by the others

"Arthur! Arthur listen to me!" Merlin cried, bending down in front of the Prince who looked in a state "Arthur look at me" he said a little more firmly, pulling the Prince's hands away from his head gently. Arthur for once obeyed his servant and slowly looked up, the voices running about his head driving him slowly insane. Merlin was shocked to see bright, glittering tears dripping down his face as he locked his bright blue eyes onto Merlin's own, wide and frightened, breathing deeply.

"What's the matter with me?" he whispered, his voice shaking and Merlin was a little bit worried. Arthur, a man of great pride, power and immense strength rarely let his emotions go like this. As far as Merlin could remember, he had never allowed himself to cry in front of Merlin and he had never had such an uncertain tone in his voice. Gaius answered his question with a heavy sigh. Gwen walked up with the girl who was called Morgana, and she suspected was the King's ward, and placed a hand on Arthur's shaking shoulder in a comforting gesture, squeezing it gently. Of the time she had seen him, he had never been this defenseless, and looking at Merlin's shocked face, even he hadn't seen the Prince in such a state. Arthur didn't seem to mind and just focused his eyes on Gaius who stared at him with an unwavering gaze

"I will make you a potion tonight that will help you sleep without any annoyance hopefully. I will send Merlin with it around about seven to give it enough time to settle in. You should be asleep within two minutes" he said gently and Arthur just closed his eyes as tears trickled down his pale face. What were these voices and would they ever leave?

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><p>Gwen had accepted the invitation to accompany Gaius Merlin and Morgana back into the castle with the broken-down Prince in their midst. People looked on not only in shock but in concern as they saw a half insane Arthur walking up through the lower town, his hands up on his blood covered forehead almost trying to prevent the voices from entering, of which they didn't. It was growing dark and nearing close to seven so Morgana accompanied Arthur back to his chamber whilst Gwen followed Merlin and Gaius, becoming fast friends with the elderly Physician quite quickly when he found out she was a budding healer and knew pretty much any of the herbal remedies around today.<p>

"Well tonight, Gwen" he said slyly, grinning despite the state the Prince was in "We are going to be concocting something much more…how you say….intricate than a simple remedy" he nodded at her and Gwen was mystified. It would obviously take a little longer to get to know this mysterious man then it would Merlin or Arthur.

She followed them up the spiral staircase that lead to obviously, their quarters, attracting some attentive looks of which she ignored. If she had run to the Prince and been the person he had saved she would get some suspicious glances to see if she was his mistress, of which she wouldn't dream of being. That would not only be dishonorable to her, but to her father, to her mother's memory and to the people she knew. It just wasn't in her to do it. Pushing open the door to their chambers she distinctly got the aroma of cooking Pork, spices, herbs and for some odd reason, metal. Once she got inside she grinned broadly. This was how a healers work and living place ought to be, various objects hanging from the ceiling, one of which looked suspiciously like Unicorn hair, slivery and shimmery as it hung there suspended by a hook. Dragon Scales in jars, leeches in a bottle, flowers and leaves crushed up and placed on shelves, books littering the worktop with various quills and coloured ink strewn on the tabletop and chairs. There were also various bits of animal, some alive in small cages, and some dead, but in the process of dissection. Gaius pushed Merlin off to get something and he beckoned to Gwen

"Could you find me powdered root of Yarrow, some Willow Flower, and a strand of the Unicorn Tail up there please" he said hurriedly, gathering other bits and bobs and throwing them in the middle of the table before taking up a mortar and pestle and grounding what looked like a goat's kidney stone into a fine powder. She looked at the various glass jars and ran her finger delicately along the curved fronts searching for Yarrow. When she finally found the spidery writing she pulled the jar out from the others and unstoppered it, releasing a sweet smell into the room that reminded her of grass and freshly made bread. Dipping her hand inside the jar she pulled out a peculiar looking object, somewhere between wood and a leaf. It looked odd but if it relieved Arthur's mental torment it would have to do. Moving onto the next object she searched for Willow flower, finding it almost immediately and pulling it out of the jar, finding a white fluffy type of flower adorned with greeny yellow tips. She then looked upwards and stretched out her fingers to pluck a strand of the silvery material from the ceiling, where is slid gently into her finger and she had to take a wild grab to stop it from disappearing on the floor. Taking the three odd ingredients to Gaius she placed them gently atop the table and felt a thrill of excitement running through her body. It had only been three hours since she had arrived and she was already firm friends with the King's Advisors and the Court Physician! Not to mention the Prince, although, the meeting with him had taken a drastic turn for the worst really. Gaius slowly took the Yarrow root and pounded it into the mixture that was still a power and then the Willow flower. Gwen was confused

"How is he to drink that?" she asked curiously as he hadn't asked for any water to be fetched. Gaius just smiled and took the Unicorn hair from her, tipping the powder into a small bottle and applying the Unicorn hair. He stoppered the bottle and shook it violently so that it became a blur in Gwen's eyes. When he stopped her mouth dropped open. The once powder was now a thick, silvery blue liquid that shimmered underneath the light. She was impressed

"Now Gwen, if you want to learn true…" he paused for a second before continuing "If you want to learn true healing remedies I advise you stay in Camelot for a little longer" he said winking at her. He had carefully chosen his words so that the word "Magic" didn't accidentally slip out. Now he handed her the small vial before ushering her out of the door

"Merlin will be waiting at the bottom of the staircase for you. I'm sure Arthur would prefer to see you than Merlin at this moment…and make sure he drinks it immediately if he wants to drop off into a peaceful sleep" he said before smiling gently. Gwen raised her eyebrows and clasped her hand over the cold curve of the vial before saying her goodbyes and explaining she would try to stay in Camelot as long as she could before she disappeared down the steps. Gaius leant against the doorframe and listened to her departing footsteps, his heart dropping

"I hope you do stay, Gwen" he murmed quietly to himself "Because your Kingdom will need you. And so will Arthur" he added before turning into his chambers and shutting the door.

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><p>She hadn't seen the Prince in this state before, or for that matter, according to Merlin, no-one had. Even Uther, who had dropped in to see for his self that his son was indeed okay but going slightly insane from supposed voices in his head even had to admit to himself he hadn't seen Arthur in such a position that he would readily kill himself. He looked scared, frightened and worried as he stayed in one place, sat on his bed with his knees drawn up to him and his elbows rested on top, his left hand cupped around his face, not bothering to wipe away the tears running down his hand that refused to stop, his eyes were startlingly blue set in his deathly white face. He was perfectly healthy but was going crazy by the voices inside of his mind talking about war, death and destruction. He didn't even move when Gwen opened the door and came in, the only recognition that she had entered were two bright blue eyes set in a face that was still covered in dried blood focused straight at her. There is was again, the odd jumping sensation in her stomach as if she had just jumped off a cliff and again she forced it down as she walked slowly towards him. She could see the glittering tears running down his face and dripping down his hand as she approached, almost scared of the silence that he was keeping.<p>

"Gaius said-"

"They won't stop talking Guinevere" Arthur said sadly and Gwen yet again got that odd feeling in the pit of her stomach when he pronounced her name. As a general rule, she didn't like people calling her that, but the way Arthur said it made it sound like it was water, silvery and fluid, like Unicorn hair. This time, however the feeling spread up to her throat and gave her goosebumps before she fought it down. She looked pitifully at Arthur who was clearly in distress

"They won't leave me alone"

"Who won't?" Gwen asked gently, her eyes looking at Arthur who's expression dropped even further

"The voices" he told her unhappily, still not shifting. Gwen sat down on the edge of the bed and held out her hand

"This will ease the voices once you fall asleep" she told him hopefully, trying to persuade him to drink the odd concoction that was now changing colour. He looked at it oddly before looking at Gwen who was suddenly mesmerized by the colour of his eyes. Was it usual to be feeling like this about a friend?

Reluctantly after about five minutes of, not uncomfortable silence, but comforting, he reached out a hand and took the vial before looking at it curiously

"Why did they choose me?"

"Who? The voices?"

"Yes"

"I'm not entirely sure" she said gently, blinking in the dim candlelight. Arthur looked, if possible, near death.

"They keep talking about a war"

"A war?"

"A war on Camelot. They say it is going to be lead by someone powerful and magical. And that they're going to kill my father" he said sorrowfully and Gwen looked shocked

"That's not the worst of it"

"It isn't?" Gwen asked, a little concerned now. Arthur looked up at her with sad blue eyes

"They say they're planning on killing Merlin. And then they're going to kill-kill" Arthur stuttered, trying to get the words out. There were more tears dripping down his face now as he undid the stopped from the bottle and drunk the entire contents. He waited until he felt rather sleepy before he told Gwen who they were going to kill.

"They're going to kill you Guinevere. And I can't let that happen to you" he said sadly but softly before he fell fast asleep, closing his agonized eyes and dropping the glass vial to the floor where it landed with a small clatter before coming to a halt. Gwen was frozen to the spot for a second before she roused herself from her state and looked at Arthur who was finally peaceful. The worry in his face had at last disappeared and the tears had stopped. Gwen raised a hand and ran her thumb across his cheek gently, the mere sensation of his skin against her hand sending electricity running up her arm. She gently pushed the blonde hair out of his face to gaze at the long cut running across his forehead and sighed gently. She didn't know what these feelings were that were coursing about her body, but surely a friend shouldn't feel them for another? Besides. He needed her at the moment, and it wouldn't do to feel like this.

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><p><strong>An….soo? What did you think? I'm uploading one at a time now and this took forever to do! Don't ask how he survived the Dragon Venom, but hey. Arthur's one of a kind dude :-) **

**More ARWEN to come ;)**

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	5. Chapter 5

"It's drawing closer. The war. I can feel it"

"What makes you so sure?"

"I can feel these things. I can feel the dark magic that they are carrying with them"

"Dark Magic? There going to attack using magic?"

"Yes, and it's going to cause utter devastation if we don't warn the young Prince and are planning on killing Uther, Merlin and the one called Guinevere before they attack Arthur and Camelot"

"What's the Prince got to do with things?"

"He is the one who is to lead everyone into battle. His father will not live to tell the tale. And neither will he if he does not get a defence up"

"But how are we to explain this to him if he does not even know who we are and where we are"

"We do not necessarily need to make him see us. We could, perhaps pass it on through Emrys"

"His name is -"

"Ah, ah. No. Not here, not when there could be people listening in on out conversation"

"Hm. Well I do have a wavelength with the young warlock. But Arthur Pendragon does not see highly about warlocks and witches because of his father"

"Uther Pendragon?"

"Yes. He has executed so many of out kind and has passed the hatred of us along to his son"

"I do not believe Arthur Pendragon has such a strong feeling as his father does. If Emrys tells him calmly and subtly, then I suppose he could take it nicely"

"I suppose. Who is leading the Army any way?"

"Eaven Jones"

"The one from-"

But the voice didn't get chance to say much more as Arthur awoke abruptly, his heart racing and eyes wide with terror. He tried to breathe in but his throat had constricted so badly he couldn't even swallow. His chest was burning from lack of oxygen and the failure of the much needed air was making his vision disintegrate before his eyes. His back was absolutely freezing whilst his forehead felt like it was burning up, every bone in his body aching painfully as he supported his weight with his wrists. He didn't really like this feeling and couldn't remember being subjected to anything like it before. Running a shaking and cool hand through his blonde hair he sighed deeply as his throat loosened and shivered despite the fact it was warm. He couldn't get his body temperature right at the moment, and when he was warm, he was boiling hot. And when he was cold, he was bitterly cold. As he blinked, his vision became less and less and he sighed again. There was sunlight streaming through the windows, dappled and mysterious and Arthur remembered quite suddenly his father was holding a meeting today. And he would have to be there, regardless of whether he felt like he was about to die or not. He decided not to wimp out and got up to be greeted by an awful bout of light headedness. Sitting back down again he held his head in his hands again to calm his mind down. At least the voices had held off for a while and he suddenly shivered involuntarily.

"Morning!" said a voice and Arthur winced as the sound scraped against his ears

"Do you mind not doing that?" he asked and Merlin raised an eyebrow

"Do what?" he asked, standing like a duck about to be shot with a sword in one hand and Arthur's armour piled up in the other.

"Shout at me in the morning. It's just enough for me to ignore the voices in my mind" Arthur replied and Merlin placed the bits and pieces he was holding quietly down on the table, with a few small bangs. Even so, Arthur reacted violently to the noise and Merlin was curious.

"I didn't shout. I said it rather quietly for me" he said, extending his "E" for a period of time.  
>"Hm" was all Merlin got back in reply and the warlock scooted out of the door to leave Arthur for a second to shake himself together, seeming as he wasn't feeling up to talking at the moment.<p>

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><p>"Ah, Arthur!" King Uther greeted warmly, a smile across his face as his son entered the Council Room, looking rather subdued. Arthur smiled back but without that cheerfulness that many of the other members were used to. His eyes were not as bright as they usually were and many noticed the lack of purpose as he walked in. Sir Leon made a worried expression with his eyebrows and caught Arthur eye but got a shake of the head in reply.<p>

"Right. There have been reports of an attacking army from over Cenred's border. The Knights believe them to be made up of men, and other beings that are…magical" Uther said, the last word coming out half strangled. "From what the can tell us, they suspect that Cenred is leading them" he added on before looking back to the piece of parchment

"It's not Cenred" Arthur cut in, settling himself in his chair and placing his elbow on the table whilst resting his aching head in his hand. He felt like his eyes were going to shatter into a million pieces in a second.

"Excuse me?" Uther replied, a little stunned that Arthur would disagree with him. He never usually did. Just listened and then added in bits of information. Arthur raised his eyes to his father's tall figure before repeating his answer

"Cenred is not leading the army. Someone called Eaven is. He's from Camberton up in Wales" Arthur said, his voice sounding tired and exhausted. He suddenly felt awfully hot as he sat there and his headache was increasing, making his vision blurry and black.

"How do you know about this?" Uther demanded and Arthur thought about how he would get out of it by lying. He decided to tell him the truth

"Ever since I was impaled by the lance, there have been voices inside my head and they are speaking of the war. They say Eaven Jones is to be leading them and they are planning on killing you, Guinevere, Merlin, slaughtering the people of Camelot and then me" Arthur said before closing his eyes and knowing that his father would not believe such a story, regardless of the fact it came from his son.

"Where have you got such ideas from?" Uther asked, blatantly confused. Arthur looked up at him again from where he was, the vision of his father becoming distorted and out of focus

"I tell you, Sire. I'm not lying" Arthur insisted and then stopped as very slowly, the voices came back into his mind, too far away to understand, but there, nagging away at his mind slowly, making his eyes glaze over and his headache intensify. His father was telling him something but he couldn't work out what he was actually saying. He was too focused on what the voices were attempting to say.

All to suddenly, the already partially black picture of his father gave way to complete darkness, a horrid sensation of hot and cot came over him and his head felt like it was just going to snap into pieces. His stomach was hurting him so badly that it was all her could to not throw up. Placing a hand over his stomach wound he could feel something rising up inside of him and he opened his eyes widely to be greeted by his father and the other members staring at him in worry. His father's eyes were filled with concern as he watched his son and Arthur clapped a hand over his mouth. He knew he wasn't going to throw up, but the feeling that was travelling up to his mouth was so awful he decided that it would be better if he departed before something bad happened. Rising from his chair with one arm wrapped around his waist and the other over his mouth he shook his head at his father just as everything started to fade from sight again. Turning around to walk away, his legs felt like they wouldn't hold him up anymore, his head was currently in absolute agony; his vision was deteriorating and the horrible feeling of cold and hot swept over his body, combining with the light headedness making him feel sick. Before he knew it, everything disappeared into darkness his legs had given way and he collapsed to the floor.

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><p>Gwen had persuaded her father to stay in Camelot for yet another week, of which the Blacksmith they were staying with was all to happy to accept. John, or as the folks in the city called him, Old John, was a old man who had no living relatives, due to the fact his wife had died during an outbreak of measles three years ago, his sister had been killed in a raid and his brother had died when a fire started up in his farm. He was a kind old man of eighty three, a ripe old age for those times with grey hair tinged with the remnants of his old colour, which used to be bright auburn. His green eyes shimmering and twinkled with wisdom and age and he spoke of fascinating things that he had seen in his long life. He was a firm favourite with not only the lower townsfolk, but also the nobles seeming as he pretty much knew all of their parents. Gwen loved Old John like she loved her father, mainly because he was like an uncle to her, and treated her with trinkets and special things. Gwen grinned as she made her way up through the market to collect the things needed for tonight's dinners as everyone greeted her like an old friends, even though she had only been in Camelot for about two days. She made her way to the Butcher where there was a long queue of people waiting for their daily produce and stood behind three people that she knew seeming as they lived in the same stretch of Old John's home.<p>

"Have you heard?" one said and the two others nodded

"Yes, I head that he just collapsed in the Council Chambers, no-one knows what's happened to him"

"Someone could have poisoned him"

"Not possible. Castles to heavily guarded" said another one, shaking their head. Gwen was just about to ask who they were talking about when Merlin came rushing up to her out of breath. The three villagers in front of her looked at Merlin in surprise, knowing that he was the servant of Prince Arthur.

"Merlin!" Gwen exclaimed as Merlin got his breath back whilst pulling at her arm

"Gwen, you have to come with me!"

"Why?" Gwen asked, a little perplexed

"It's Arthur. Something happened to him. He collapsed in the Council Room" Merlin gushed out and Gwen's eyes widened and the familiar feeling whenever Arthur was mentioned jumped up inside of her. Yet this time she let it spread through her body, making every feeling stand on end as she thought about him. She nodded before she took heed and let herself be pulled along by the lanky boy.

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><p>Gaius had just figured out why Arthur had collapsed when the door crashed open and Merlin came in tugging at the hand of Gwen who was clearly in a faze of shock and concern.<p>

"What happened?" she asked whilst going up to his unconscious form and running her hand gently over his forehead. Gaius smiled gently at the act of affection

"The Dragon Venom is having side effects. I suspect he's just fallen ill to it" he said kindly but he looked seriously at Merlin all the same. In an undertone so that only Merlin could hear he said;

"Merlin you have to go to the Great Dragon and ask him how we can save Arthur. If we don't find a cure he's bound to die" his face was grave and Merlin nodded before hurrying out of the door toward the corridor that would lead him straight to Kilgarrah. Gaius went over to Gwen and watched her staring at Arthur worriedly.

"You care a great deal about him don't you?" he asked gently and Gwen blushed furiously

"As a friend, yes" she said half truthfully. She did care a great deal about Arthur in a friend way, but there was the added tinge of something else within that affection. Gaius settled himself down next to her whilst looking on.

"Gwen, you know what I mean" he said firmly and Gwen sighed

"I don't know really. I love being around him and everything but there's just no point in continuing to like him. Nothing can ever happen"

"You don't know Gwen. Arthur cares a great deal about you too. It's just no-one realizes it as much as me. You two are destined to be together and fate will decide on how things turn out" Gaius said solemnly and Gwen turned her gaze on him

"It won't happen…not if he dies" she said sadly and sunk down into a chair and watched Arthur quietly

"He won't die Gwen. He needs to be alive to lead Camelot into battle and to bring us all out into victory" Gaius said wisely and Gwen sighed

"Even so. His father wouldn't agree. And anyway. I know Arthur doesn't feel the same way" she said firmly, frowning to try and push it into place like a sword in it's sheath so it made itself comfortable and had no idea of coming out of place, although that was proving rather hard to do and then Gaius ruined the whole aim and got up from the bed making sure before he left he spilt the words that would potentially change Gwen's future.

"Well that's not what he told me" he informed her before winking and closing the door behind him.

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><p>"Hello?" Merlin shouted, his voice echoing throughout the large and cold cave that homed the Great Dragon, Kilgarrah.<p>

"I take it you're here to ask about Prince Arthur?" the dragon boomed, flapping his wings and soaring down to the clump of rock that he sat on to so often lecture the young warlock. Merlin nodded hurriedly, keeping a firm grasp on the candle he was holding. To be fair it wasn't a candle, more like a stick with a candle on top. Merlin just didn't know what it was called.

"He's fallen gravely ill and we think Dragon Venom is the cause" Merlin said seriously, looking into the bright amber eyes of Kilgarrah, the same colour that his turned when he was casting a spell. The dragon shifted slightly on his rock before answering

"You speak of Dragon Venom?" he enquired and Merlin nodded

"He was impaled with a lance that had it smothered over the top. It was a slightly blue substance and caused Arthur to hear voices" he explained and the Dragon let out a snort of fire in his anger

"That is not Dragon Venom young warlock!" he said angrily and Merlin was taken aback

"But Gaius diagnosed it as-"

"Gaius does not know Dragon Venom when he sees it! Dragon Venom is crystal clear and disappears when I contact with human skin!"

"So what is it?"

"It's is Dragon Blood" Kilgarrah stated and Merlin raised an eyebrow

"Why would the imposter impale Arthur with Dragon Blood?" he asked and Kilgarrah extended his wings to their full extent and stretched his long neck before replying.

"To drive him mad! Shikratha and I were wondering why we could sense another mind in our conversations! And now I know who it is!" he said seriously and Merlin was confused

"Shikratha?"

"No time to explain. I'm surprised young Arthur Pendragon has not been driven to insanity by now. Does he know about the war then?"

"Yes…according to Uther" the dragon let a furious snort out along with some flames that barley missed Merlin's arm "According to Uther, Arthur was telling him that Eaven was leading the army. Is that right?" Merlin enquired and Kilgarrah let out a rumble that Merlin took as a yes. "When is he to attack Camelot?" Merlin asked and Kilgarrah fixed his eyes on the warlock seriously.

"Shikratha tells me that he is due to attack in exactly a week today"

"But how is Arthur meant to fight in a state where he isn't even awake?"

"I will speak to him…that should startle him out of his state. He's just having side effects that Dragon Blood does on humans. I suppose the jouster thought that the Dragon Blood would kill Arthur seeming as there's this thing going around saying that our blood is potent to humans. It merely makes the affected person be able to listen in on Dragon conversations within and eight mile radius."

"So are you to say there's another Dragon around Camelot?" Merlin asked incredulously and Kilgarrah nodded.

"But take heed, Merlin. You have to remember that Eaven has the advantage of magic on his side. You will have to entice him straight away from Arthur or he will kill him instantly" Kilgarrah said seriously and Merlin nodded a little agape at the recent information.

"And when he awakes, you must give him a calming potion or he will go mad"

"Calming potion right."

"And another thing. If Arthur is to defeat the army he will need Excalibur. You will need to retrieve it and give it only to Arthur. He is the only one who is to wield it otherwise it will cause utter devastation and be the downfall of Camelot" Kilgarrah stated majestically and Merlin resisted the urge to bow

"Okay… I promise" he said truthfully before turning around and leaping three at a time up the stone steps the break the good news to Gwen and Gaius.

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><p><strong>An Thank you larasmith for your reviews…they are quite enlightening to read :-D It's hard to write at the moment because my brain is all fuzzy but I hoped this made sense! :D And the speech between Kilgarrah and Merlin might not make sense at the moment, but I think later on it will :)**

**Cookies x**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/E/N (Authors Early Note) I warn you, the speaking pool is taken from DragonSkin Slippers, so I don't own that either, neither Merlin…oh and I apologize for the spelling errors too. Cookies x**

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><p>Kilgarrah shifted on his clump of rock as Merlin left before extending his wings and soaring up to another, higher bit of shelving that he used to sleep on. It wasn't fancy or anything, but Kilgarrah kind of liked it. The metal chain attached around to him clanged and tinkled at different intervals as he manouevered his way through the rocky cave toward his perch. He was just thankful it was quite long chain and as he settled himself, the clanging died away gradually. Oh how his ancestors would laugh if they saw him now, underneath the thrall of Uther Pendragon. Kilgarrah snorted in half anger half misery as he reminded himself of his ancestors and what Uther did to them before he looked into a pool of water that was perfectly circular, and at the moment shimmered and shone in the dim light.<p>

"Shikratha?" Kilgarrah asked to the pool "Are you there?"

"I am here, Kilgarrah" said another voice, slightly deeper that his own with the added hint of exasperation "They keep speaking about the war. They now have reinforcements in the shape of wolves" Shikratha said, staring up out of the pool.

Shikratha was a completely different breed and colour dragon to Kilgarrah, but they both shared the same roots of magic, thus the same eye colour. Shikratha was, in contrast to Kilgarrah's sandy brown, a bright violet with dark orange streaks running along his stomach, having inherited the true colours of the Scottish Longclaw that used to live in the remote Scottish Highlands alongside the smaller Scottish Orcthian, a dragon with dark green scales and pale blue streaks. Kilgarrah had never been told what breed he was seeming as he was a young dragon when the Great Purge occurred, and his mother and father were slaughtered mercilessly by Uther because of his denial of Ygraine's death.

Kilgarrah ignored the wolf reinforcements and explained to Shikratha about the Dragon Blood. The Dragon in the pool let out a gust of bright orange flame

"So there's another Dragon out there still alive!" he asked excitedly and Kilgarrah nodded his head

"But I fear they are being held in captivity like me…and that isn't good when there are only now three dragons left in the British Isles to help fight the battle"

"But how are you to get out?" Shikratha asked and Kilgarrah sighed

"I'm not sure. Excalibur is being given to Arthur to help him fight against the army and that is the only sword that can cut through my bond" he said dully and rattled the chain to prove his point. Shikratha looked sympathetically at his new friend before a thought occurred to him

"I am a free dragon and maybe I can persuade Arthur Pendragon to cut through your chains…I will have to stop telling you information though because I can't fly back there again after I have headed straight toward Camelot in broad daylight, they will have seen me dispatch"

"But how have you retrieved information from such a distance? Surely they can't be within an eight mile radius of Camelot?"

"I am afraid to tell you they are…I have been acting like one of their dogs and helping them but they do not know I have been communicating with you"

"You put your life at risk for Camelot?"

"Not for Camelot, for Arthur Pendragon's destiny" he said solemnly and Kilgarrah nodded.

"I have to part with you my friend, they are coming for me. I will meet you soon" Shikratha said warmly and grinned the way only a dragon could grinning, showing his impressive three inch long canines as he did so before the pool of water went cloudy as Kilgarrah stirred it thoughtfully with one claw. He would be free hopefully in a matter of days. And then he would help the future king win the war against Camelot.

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><p>For the second time that week, Arthur awoke with wide, glassy eyes and a racing pulse. Although things were different at the moment in his mind. True, he had heard the voices again, but this time one of them was addressing him, speaking to him and explaining what he had to do to be able to win the war. It was too much for him to handle and as soon as the dragon (As he had explained he was) said goodbye he woke almost instantly. Luckily, this time he didn't feel light headed and his vision was absolutely fine, but everything else was going crazy. His heartbeat had increased rapidly, his breathing was laboured and his mind was still trying to simple things out about what had just happened. Raising a hand to his forehead he closed his eyes and attempted to calm himself, knowing, even in the state he was at the moment, if it continued it would make him break-down into a place that he may not recover from. It kind of worked but every sense was on end and his pulse was still pretty high, and he thought if it went on he wouldn't be able to live with it. He tried speaking to himself quietly but nothing came out, his speech halted at that moment in time. Had it gone on he wouldn't have been able to cope but thankfully someone seemed to notice he was awake and there was the sudden clatter of what he thought was a bottle, someone cursing and then cold glass being pushed firmly into his hands.<p>

"Drink it" Gwen said firmly, pushing in into Arthur's hand. He looked at her with wide blue eyes with undecipherable emotions filling them "It'll calm you down!" she insisted and Arthur reluctantly drank the bizarre concoction that kept switching colours from green to red to blue. After he had drank it he made a face and attempted to speak, but alas. He was well and truly silenced. Gwen smiled humorously

"Gaius said that it would keep you quiet for a bit" she admitted and Arthur frowned and mouthed something. Gwen looked startled and tried to cover herself and Gaius up "Oh no, don't worry! He's not used magic, no, no. It's just the Orchid extract he put in there" she lied, flushing a little bit. To be truthful, Merlin had used magic because he knew Arthur would talk incessantly afterward, and warned Gwen it wasn't particularly nice to listen to when he would not shut up. Arthur raised one eyebrow suspiciously and Gwen smiled sweetly, her heart racing. Arthur could be awfully good at getting the truth out of people sometimes and she was in hot water at the moment. He mouthed something again before looking defeated and tried to get up. Gwen shook her head

"You are not getting up! What do you need" she asked and Arthur made a writing gesture with his hand. She nodded before looking around and spotting a rather extravagant quill and parchment lying on Arthur's desk and took it back to him. He grinned wryly before starting to write hurriedly. Handing her the piece of parchment she read it and smiled, not only at the note but also at the state of his handwriting. It was not as you would expect a Prince's handwriting to be, elegant and intricate. It was more like Merlin's, carelessly written, slightly slanted with twists for the G's and Y's. But it was typically Arthur and suited him.

"_It wouldn't really matter if he did use magic because there's a dragon beneath the caves of Camelot"_

"Really?" Gwen asked incredulously and Arthur nodded before asking for the parchment again

"_He told me that Eaven is to attack in no less than three days no which he shortened due to the fact he wants to get it over and done with. Also he knows this because he has a friend who had been spying…can dragons spy? On the opposing force. I hope my speech will come back or Leon will have to order everyone about…there are two dragons that I didn't even know about, did you?"_

"Well I don't know about the dragon spying part, but if they're on our side then it's a good advantage" Gwen said cheerfully before her face dropped "It's a bit surreal actually, the war I mean" she said a little sadly. Arthur looked concerned before writing something down again

"_You shouldn't be worried, Gwen. Things will turn out for the better, honestly. And anyway. Your not going to be actually part of it because I can't fight knowing that your probably going to die"_

"Nice of you to think that, but I'm the reason Eaven's attacking Camelot probably" Gwen admitted and taking heed of Arthur's worried look she carried on "It's because I showed him up in front of the whole village" she said a little more cheerfully and then fixed on a sad look "Every year we have an annual swordfighting tournament and there wasn't a person that could beat Eaven and he kept going around gloating that he was the best and everything. So I decided to enter under Elyan's name and fought against him. Amazingly, I beat him without a few cuts though and when I revealed myself he looked so furious I can't even begin to say how scary he looked… he looked worse than Merlin on a bad day really" she said jokily and Arthur smiled.

"Then afterwards, when my family were all saddled up ready to spend a week in Camelot for the Jousting Tournament, he told me that he'd get his revenge for showing him up in front of everyone, and now he's just planning on attacking Camelot, which I don't understand but there you go" she finished, a little breathless and still quite worried but relieved that she had at last got it out to someone. Although telling Prince Arthur probably wasn't someone she expected to tell but he didn't really mind, although he wasn't listening at the moment, he was writing again.

"_You know…even if Eaven infiltrates Camelot you can be reassured we have two particular advantages. Number one we have Excalibur which someone called Emrys is supposed to give me and we also have spirit. People affected by dark magic according to the voice don't have a spirit anymore_

_Also, he has no chance of getting to you whilst I'm still alive"_

Gwen smiled gently before looking up at Arthur who was quite close to falling asleep

"I suppose so. Anyway, you should rest, your exhausted" she told Arthur, staring at the piece of paper again. She lifted her gaze and realized Arthur had already dropped off into the first sleep that he could have that didn't have voices in and the first sleep he had fallen into where his mind was at ease.

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><p><strong>An…Yeah, this one was probably a bit boring but the next ones include ARWEN and the battle and that malarkey. So STAY TUNED FOLKS. ;D Taah for reading :-) **

**Cookies x**


	7. Chapter 7

The moment the first signs of war spread through Camelot, everyone went into panic mode. People were running around screaming, collecting their children and good, rushing into their homes in an attempt to shield themselves from something that hadn't even happened. Although, the Knights that were preparing in fully kitted out armour were not helping, the horses being tacked up for the battle that was to happen on the field not that far away, the drawbridges raise incase of an attack on the castle, the flags that usually waved proudly in the cold wind lowered down, the soldiers going around ordering people to round up their stalls and pack them away. The only shop that was open was that of John the Blacksmiths, the home in which Gwen and her family were staying, having orders placed for more swords, shoes for horses and metal arrows. The blacksmith was a hub of activity and both men, John and Thomas were working endlessly. Elyan, along with many other males over the age of twenty, noble blood or not had been asked to help fight in the battle of Camelot, and he had obliged and gone up to the castle to be measured properly for armour.

Curiously, as much as Arthur and Gwen both looked, they could not find Merlin who seemed to have disappeared entirely from Camelot much to Arthur's distress seeming as he was one of his closest friends and pretty much the only one he could confine his worries to, other than Arion. Arthur had seemed to have forgotten about the voices in his mind, although he suspected it was because the dragon was listening out for his friend who had apparently flown somewhere. Arthur was currently ordering about his Knights, looking relaxed as he did so, but underneath feeling awfully worried and frightened, something he had never felt before. He could see the concern in his comrades faces as they fixed their armour on, shaking hands sheathing swords and quick, jerky movements as they walked through the city that was eerily empty, mounting up onto horses that didn't know what fate was to soon befall them. Camelot now had other thirty thousand Knights to help fight the battle, and yet Arthur felt like that wouldn't be enough, that it wouldn't be enough to defeat an army that was using Dark Magic.

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><p>Arthur was absolutely exhausted already by the amount of organization and running about he had been doing to get his Knights into position and make sure every entrance to the castle was heavily guarded. Many of the soldiers were situated up on the ramparts and at the drawbridges so stop any other attackers, although a fair few were dotted around at small passages at the back of the castle. His father wasn't to be seen and thankfully neither was Morgana so he suspected they had gone to saftey, hopefully. Gaius was around, collecting herbs and remedies that he would not doubt need and taking them to the Great Hall where they were setting up a medical room, not bothering to ask Arthur if he knew where Merlin was, which settled his nerves. If Gaius wasn't wondering, then he shouldn't. Should he? At this moment in time, he personally still needed to not only tack up his own horse seeming as Merlin had disappeared, as had all of the servant and stable-hands, but to find Gwen and put her in a place where he knew she would be safe, and locate the elusive Emrys and retrieve Excalibur. He felt like he would fall apart at any moment if he kept on going, and at long last found himself sat against a cold wall, his eyes closed in the corridor between the entrance to the West tower and the council room on the fifth floor. At least it was silent up here and he could think about what move he was planning to do next. A slight breeze relaxed his aching back and relieved his nerves as he shifted his weight slightly, thinking about whether he should take off his shoulder guard that was creating a throbbing ache.<p>

"What are you doing up here then?" said a voice and Arthur nearly jumped out of his own skin as he heard someone speaking right next to him. He opened his eyes to be greeted by Gwen who surprisingly looked just as tired as he did, slumped against the wall, blood dripping gently down her face

"Gwen what happened?" he asked worriedly and Gwen smiled

"Don't worry; I cut myself on the door coming out of the forge. I believe those doorways are made for hobbits" she said tiredly and a little bit tightly. Arthur still looked worried

"You should be down in the Hall with the others" he said quietly, raising a hand to Gwen's face to wipe away the blood, making Gwen's feelings go crazy as his hand touched her face. She smiled wryly

"I can think of other places where I would prefer to be. I came up here to get away from the hubbub of the forge and Castle." She admitted looking up the white corridor that was for once, utterly quiet. Arthur grinned

"Great minds think alike" he said "Your not the only one who decided to escape all of the commotion" he added, sighing deeply. "I have to kit out the army, tack up Arion, find Emrys, collect the sword and fight a battle" he said scathingly and Gwen made a face

"And everyone thinks being a Prince is fun" she laughed and Arthur shook his head

"It's horrible. Especially when people called Gwen won't do what there told" he looked at her and Gwen scowled

"I'm not one for being ordered around"  
>"I guessed that" Arthur replied and smiled gently before looking at Gwen who was wiping away the blood from her forehead with her hand "You know…the first time I saw you I knew you were special, in a good way. You didn't really show any fear against Eaven and when I eventually managed to pull you out of the water, you were not scared of me which many people are"<p>

"Why?"

"I'm pretty arrogant and rude sometimes. Merlin showed me that when he became my servant. He used to complain about how cruel I was toward other servants. I think he may have imagined himself as my m-" he stopped abruptly and became distant. Gwen placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, making the small, mouse like feeling run through her body at an alarming rate

"My mother died when I was five too. I know you never got the chance to know her, but I can't remember a single thing about mine either" she said comfortingly. There was a silence, disrupted only by the clank and jangle of armour and bits down in the courtyard, the harsh cry of an eagle atop the wind, eyes scanning the countryside.

"Better get back otherwise Leon will be wondering where I am…they're due to attack any time tomorrow and we need to get our guard up" he said and Gwen looked at him

"Yeah, right. Like Eaven has a set date for attacking so that we could get comfortable into position" she said sceptically and leant backwards against the wall again "I can't wait until someone teaches him a lesson he would-" she never got to finish the sentence as the floor next to her suddenly gave way with an alarming crash of rock against marble, the squeal of twisted metal and shattered glass as the window next to them completely disintegrated. Gwen let out a shriek and Arthur instinctively pulled her out of the way.

"They're attacking now?" Gwen cried out, looking at the now gaping hole that revealed the courtyard and Knights who looked terrified, their eyes wide as they scarpered to get to their posts regardless of the fact that Arthur was nowhere to be seen and didn't order them too. They just didn't want to get in his bad books.

"Yes, and we need to get out of the way before we get hit completely" he said with authority, taking her by the hand and pulling her towards the west towers flight "You need to get to somewhere safe and I need to get back to the Knights"

"Arthur there is no way I am going to be able to sit somewhere and act all ignorant about the things going around me!" Gwen cried out, pulling Arthur to a stop and staring at him defiantly. Arthur glared at her

"Gwen don't be ridiculous! If you go out there there's a high chance your going to get hit by something, killed or captured by the opponents!" he retaliated, blue eyes blazing with unspoken emotions. Gwen folded her arms across her chest

"Your more likely to get hit! And you're the Crown Prince! I think they might choose you over me if they really had the chance! They'd use you to get at…me" she trailed off, her eyes wide at what she had just said. She inwardly cursed herself and bit her tongue from stopped herself to say anymore about her feelings. Arthur was just looking curious now before he spoke again

"You still need to see Gaius anyway, your cut could get infected" he said finally, and Gwen sighed. At least he hadn't said he needed to stay with him. She wasn't like some of the nobles who worried if they got hurt; she was more of the brash type who got excitement from being out in the middle of a battlefield. She reluctantly followed Arthur toward the spiral staircase when something caught her attention

"What's that sound?" she asked Arthur who stopped where he was, slightly behind her as he told her to go before him.

"What noise? I ca-" he was stopped in mid sentence by Gwen who placed a finger to his lips and forced him to listen to the noise outside that was gradually getting closer

"That noise" she confirmed and Arthur's breath hitched, his eyes grew wide as the voice of the dragon spoke to him urgently inside his head

"_Get down! Protect Guinevere at all costs! Do it now! Save yourselves! It's the opponents dragon!_" it shouted and Arthur instinctively wrapped his arms around Gwen's waist, pushing her head down so that he was literally protecting her just as the whole of the West tower collapsed above and beneath them, plummeting down to the floor in a mass of marble, wood and glass.

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><p>Gwen couldn't remember what had happened after Arthur wrapped his arms around her waist and forced her head down until afterwards as she came round. She couldn't breathe properly for her throat was constricted with the dust that came up as the marble lay in bits, the glass in the windows had shattered and the wooden beams that usually held up the circular tower had snapped in two when they fell on top of the great chunks of marble that now littered the one impressive corridor leading to the flight of elegant stairs now crack, chipped and only half there. Choking on the dust she knew that she wasn't buried alive due to the fact she could actually now see the sky, a bright vivid blue lying calmly and serenely like nothing had just happened. It seemed that only the top three levels including the one she and Arthur had been on had fallen down as there was still a considerable amount of brickwork standing up, although all of the windows had shattered underneath the enormous force exerted on it and she wondered what had made it fall down.<p>

Running her hands over her face for any more injuries and making sure everything in her body worked properly, she decided that she was fine and suddenly remembered Arthur and her face drained of blood when she couldn't see him. Where was he? Panic took over in her body as she looked around in search for him. Pushing herself up and wiping off the excess dust she had on her dress which was rather torn now, the bottom completely ruined she searched in the mass of rubble for the Prince. Her heart was beating against her ribcage as she looked in the white corridor that was still thick with the dust from the tower and suddenly caught sight of a silver sword. Running as best she could, wincing with pain because she suddenly found she had twisted her ankle, she picked it up and her breath hitched as she saw it was completely snapped in two, this being the lower end of his sword with the metal scratched and twisted to such an extent it wasn't deadly to her anymore as she ran her finger over the end of the blade. If she had found the end of his beloved sword, then he must be nearby she decided and twisted around on her good foot, holding her other one in the air underneath her skirts to reduce the amount of pain circling throughout it. Looking wildly up and down the mass of rocks her heart was between her teeth as she saw a great collection that he could be underneath. She fretfully moved through the debry and suddenly spotted him, half silver like the sword in her hands and half red, which wasn't a welcoming sight. He was unconscious with blood running down his face and dripping on his armour that seemed none the worse for wear apart from the fact the shoulder guard and his left gauntlet were broken and twisted.

"Arthur!" Gwen cried out, running painfully towards him through the rubble before resorting to hopping through. Reaching the Prince she dropped the other end of his sword with a clatter that scraped at her sensitive ears and knelt down beside him, checking his pulse, relieved to feel it was there, and strong. He was loosing an awful mount of blood at the moment but that wasn't really what mattered at the moment and she unsuccessfully tried to wake him up. Placing her hands either side of his face she searched around his head where the blood was coming from, which turned out to be exactly where his last one was, running across his forehead except this one was slightly towards his right side. It seemed to have opened the other wound which would explain the amount of blood. As she sat there in distress, attempting to wipe away the red liquid running down his face with her hands that were soon bright red, she thankfully didn't have to wait that long for him to wake up and he soon came round and immediately put a hand up to his forehead due to the fact it was stinging like a horses bite. He met Gwen's hands around his face and raised his eyes to meet her own before smiling slightly

"Your alright" he said quietly and Gwen nodded before turning his face towards her in worry to judge the amount of bloodloss.

"Your not though. You've acquired another cut along you forehead which has opened the previous one" she explained, concerned, but Arthur seemed more worried about her

"Are you sure your okay Gwen? You look rather white" he said, raising a hand to her face before grinning "You resemble a ghost now" he laughed a showed her his hand that was bright white with marble dust. Gwen grinned back before showing him her own hand that was dark scarlet and his expression changed dramatically

"As I said, you've lost a lot of blood, you need to get cleaned up…" she remembered something and looked sympathetic "Oh and, your sword well…I think it may have snapped when we fell" she said sadly, picking up the end of his blade that was badly scratched and bent. Arthur looked toward his sword belt to see only half of it and the sheath was attached around his waist before looking defeated.

"Sire!" said a voice and both Gwen and Arthur looked up to see Leon and a bunch of Knights hurrying up to them, Elyan in their midst along with Percival of whom waved at Gwen. Elyan rushed up to Gwen and embraced her tightly which Gwen returned gratefully, her eyes closed tightly

"What happened?" Lancelot asked worriedly as Arthur unsteadily got to his feet "We were all defending the ramparts and entrances to the castle when there's this tremendous crash and the West tower has gone down" he explained and Arthur looked at them all seriously, his expression and the blood running down his face making him look rather grave. He removed his gloves to wipe away the blood from around his sight and shook his hand before looking back up at them

"It's wasn't anything sent by men. It was a dragon" he said grimly and everyone's eyes widened.

"A dragon?" another man echoed, a new recruit, but showing all the signs of a great Knight. He was called Gwaine and had big brown eyes that for once looked startled instead of cheerful with his brown hair falling over his eyes, of which he shook back his head impatiently. Arthur nodded again

"It wasn't the Camelot dragon or his friend Shikratha though. I suspect this is a foreign one" he explained and everyone looked doubtfully at the Prince

"Are you sure sire?" Leon asked "We have not seen a dragon around here and your telling us that there are three" he said and Arthur glared at him. Did he really sound that mad so as not to be believed by one of his most loyal and best friends?

"Yes I'm sure, Leon" he said exasperatedly as his temper rose, forcing him to bite his tongue so he didn't strike out at anyone. Running a hand through his blonde hair which was now partially red thanks to his fresh and old wound, he sighed deeply before looking upwards and remembering the voice of the dragon, telling him to protect Gwen. If it hadn't have been for the voice, she would have died. He was now more grateful for having been impaled by the lance than when he wasn't. No one dared disagree with him now and he looked so certain that he was hard not to believe. Arthur knew for a fact it wasn't the dragon in his mind because if it were he wouldn't have brought the tower down, and his friend was on their side. Anyhow, he still needed to find Emrys and hopefully, this dragon would help them.

"Leon can you take Gwen to Gaius and find my father and Morgana please. The rest can come with me now. We have a war to fight" he said simply and Gwen looked stubborn

"Your even more hurt than me!" she objected and Arthur looked at her gravely

"What's the point in getting me cleaned up if I'm just going to get more wounds?" he asked, although his tone was a little bit more gentler than when he had spoken to the others. His head was hurting rather badly and judging by the way his chest hurt as he breathed in he had broken at least three ribs in the fall. He gave her a brief and sad smile before walking out through the rubble followed by the other Knights bar Leon who took Gwen the opposite way to which she was grateful for. They had just got out into the courtyard when the second shock came. There was a tremendous roar, the crash and scrape of claws against the flagstones as they were torn up from the ground, the snap of wings and a cheery person waving at them. Towering above the Knights and Arthur stood a massive violet dragon with glowing amber eyes and sat comfortably on his back amidst the spine ridges sat none other than Merlin, grinning like a lunatic.

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><p><strong>An So what did you think? :L I like it when Merlin arrives :D That made me laugh in a away. I didn't want Arthur to fall unconscious again, neither Gwen because I seem to do that too much. More to come in the next chapter so keep reading! :-) APOLOGIES FOR ANY RIDICULOUS SPELLING ERRORS! I'M ENGLISH AND THE LAPTOPS AMERICAN AND IT CORRECTS MY WORDS -_- If not that, then I just spell it wrong by accident and the squiggly line does not appear….:/ Meerh.**

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